Polk County Sports SCHEDULE Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 18, 2015 10A 2014-15 ITEMIZER-OBSERVER ALL-REGION GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 Baseball: Cascade at Central, 3:30 p.m. Softball: McKay at Cen- tral, 4:30 p.m. Always Driven THURSDAY, MARCH 19 Baseball: Central at Philomath, 4:30 p.m. Crow at Perrydale, 4:30 p.m. Softball: Philomath at Central, 4:30 p.m. Crow at Perrydale, 4:30 p.m. Boys Tennis: Dallas at North Marion, 4 p.m. Cen- tral at Philomath, 4 p.m. Girls Tennis: North Mar- ion at Dallas, 4 p.m. Philo- math at Central, 4 p.m. Track and Field: Perry- dale at McMinnville, 2 p.m. Lebanon, West Salem, Willamette at Dallas Ice Breaker, 3:30 p.m. Nash takes game to new heights By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Central junior Kylie Nash is always up for a challenge. During the 2014-15 campaign, Nash helped the Panthers succeed in a new league and showed just how valuable she is. • See the 2014-15 Item- Nash led Central, aver- izer-Observer All-Region aging 16 points per team on page 11A. Look for game, a team high, and the All-Region boys basket- shoting 52 percent from ball team in the March 25 the field. issue. Nash’s impact, both in her scoring, and beyond, is what made her the Item- izer-Observer’s 2014-15 Player of the Year for high school girls basketball. Nash’s love of basketball began early. For nearly as long as she can recall, the basketball court has been her proving ground, a place where age and gender didn’t matter. Inside FRIDAY, MARCH 20 Softball: Central at Madison, 4 p.m. SATURDAY, MARCH 21 Baseball: Dallas vs. Rex Putnam at Tigard Tourna- ment, 12:15 p.m. Track and Field: West- ern Oregon at Portland State Invitational, Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, 10 a.m. SUNDAY, MARCH 22 Baseball: Dallas vs. Hillsboro at Tigard Tourna- ment, 1:15 p.m. Softball: Western Ore- gon at Central Washington (DH), noon. See DRIVEN, Page 11A By The Numbers MONDAY, MARCH 23 B a s e b a l l : Po r t l a n d Lutheran at Perrydale (DH), noon. Dallas at Tigard, 4:45 p.m. Softball: Medford Spring Break Classic: Dallas vs. Marist, noon. Dallas vs. Hood River Valley, 4 p.m. TUESDAY, MARCH 24 Softball: Medford Spring Break Classic: Dallas vs. La Salle, 11 a.m. Dallas vs. Liberty, 3 p.m. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 Softball: Western Ore- gon at San Francisco State (DH), 1 p.m. — Schedules Subject to Change QUICK HITS CHS Hall of Fame tickets available INDEPENDENCE — Tick- ets are on sale for Central High’s Hall of Fame Dessert on April 25. Cost is $5 per person. A walk through of the school will take place at 5 p.m. with the dessert evening beginning at 6 p.m. in the CHS Auditorium. The 2015 Hall of Fame class includes the 1967 state champion football team, 1968 state champion track and field team and 1975 state champion boys basketball team. Individuals being in- ducted include boys bas- ketball coach Glen Clark (1974-87), football, basket- ball and baseball player Dick Wiese (Class of 1961), football, basketball and track athlete Steve McArthur (1969) and vol- leyball, basketball and ten- nis athlete Lea Allan (1979). STAT SHEET The number of NCAA Division II In- door Track and Field All-Americans earned by Western Ore- gon. Junior Badane Sultessa became the third when he placed fourth in the 800-meter run final. 3 16 52 48 The number of points per game Nash averaged during the 2014- 15 season, a team high. Nash’s field goal percentage last season, including shooting 38 per- cent from the 3- point line. The number of total points per game Central scored. Nash was responsible for a third of the total. COLLEGE BASEBALL Pratt’s patience paying off big Senior sees expanding role in starting rotation for Wolves By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer Up Next MONMOUTH — From the moment he transferred to Western Oregon, senior pitcher Jesse Pratt has had one thing in mind. “I just wanted to be out there playing baseball and giving it the best that I got,” Pratt said. “Hopefully, it’s good enough to help us win.” After earning a complete game victory against Mon- tana State Billings on Fri- day, it’s clear that now more than ever, Pratt’s abil- ity to help the Wolves’ baseball team is greater than it’s ever been. Pratt’s collegiate athletic career appeared headed in a different direction in 2010. Pratt, a 2010 Central High graduate, played basketball and baseball at Chemeketa Community College. After tearing his left ACL during the 2011-12 basketball sea- son, Pratt’s athletic future was put on hold. “I was definitely a little fearful when I first got back into things,” Pratt said. “It felt a little weaker than it used to be, but I just kept working on it.” Pratt recovered from the injury, and earned a spot on WOU’s roster after calling Western Oregon for a chance to throw in front of them. • Western Oregon hits the road to face Northwest Nazarene for a pair of dou- bleheaders on Friday and Saturday. • The Wolves are 9-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and 13-14 overall. • The Crusaders are in second place in the confer- ence at 4-4 in GNAC play. www.polkio.com/ns/sports LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer WOU senior Jesse Pratt delivers a pitch Friday against Montana State Billings. Pratt threw a complete game, giving up two hits and no earned runs. Pratt made a combined 34 appearances during his sophomore and junior sea- sons with the Wolves with one start. His role is far different during his senior campaign. After two seasons of being a relief pitcher, Pratt is be- coming the team’s ace. Pratt, who was named the conference’s Pitcher of the Week on Monday, has seven appearances with six starts entering the week. He leads the Wolves’ starters with a 2.61 ERA. He also has a team-high 38 strikeouts and has given up the fewest hits, 31, among WOU’s starting rotation, despite pitching the most innings. “He’s always had good stuff,” Wolves coach Kellen Walker said. “He’s always been a competitive kid. I think he’s matured this year. He stops himself when things aren’t going perfectly and he’s now able to reset and not let it snowball on him.” Pratt has also worked on making more of his pitches harder to hit. “I’ve been working on my changeup and keeping my slider in the strike zone more consistently,” Pratt said. Pratt’s emergence this season has helped WOU to a 9-2 start in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, in- cluding winning three of four against preseason fa- vorite Central Washington. Western Oregon swept Montana State Billings on Friday and Saturday. WOU won a doubleheader 7-6 (11 www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209 Mon -Fri 8am - 6pm • Sat 8am - 5pm DALLAS 121 Main St • 503-623-8155 INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St • 503-838-6340 www.LesSchwab.com Prices good through 3/31/15 innings), 8-1 on Friday and 14-5 on Saturday. Junior outfielder Cody Sulli- van hit a walk-off double in the first game of the series, while Pratt Harpole threw the second game on Friday, giv- ing up two hits and no earned runs. Garrett Har- pole finished the series with five hits and three RBIs. The final game of the se- ries was postponed until April 17, when WOU visits the Yellowjackets. “This has been a huge confidence booster,” Pratt said. “We had a little rough patch during nonconfer- ence, but we’ve definitely started off strongly in GNAC.” After playing a difficult nonconference schedule that saw WOU go 4-12, Walker said the important thing was to not panic and continue to improve. “The key for us is concen- trating on what we’re doing on a daily basis,” Walker said. “It’s not necessarily who we’re playing that is making a difference, it’s the commit- ment we’ve had to our plan. See PRATT, Page 12A www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports